United News of Bangladesh

Walton has launched ‘Computer Exchange Offer Season-4’ campaign aiming to ensure proper e-waste management. Under the campaign, customers can purchase Walton brand’s new laptop, desktop, all-in-one PC, monitor, printer, Tab, speaker, and CCTV camera in exchange of any brand’s homogenous IT products (active or inactive) at special discounts of up to 20 percent, said a media statement. Customers will enjoy this exchange facilities from September 1 to December 31 this year. Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC’s Managing Director S M Mahbubul Alam and Walton Digi-Tech Industries Ltd.’s Chairman S M Rezaul Alam inaugurated the ‘Computer Exchange Offer Season-4’ at a programme held at Walton Corporate Office in the capital on Monday (September 2, 2024). Walton Hi-Tech’s Managing Director S M Mahbubul Alam said, “The waste of useless electronics devices is scattered inappropriately around us, which have huge bad impacts on environment and human beings. We should be more conscious about the e-waste. Through the exchange program, our country will be benefited from e-waste.” Walton Digi-Tech’s Chairman S M Rezaul Alam said, “It is our responsibility to build a green Bangladesh for the future generations. E-waste is increasing every year with the rising demands for smart and electronics products. Therefore Walton Digi-Tech has been conducting exchange offers since 2020 to ensure proper management of e-waste in our country. Already, three seasons have been conducted with great success. Significant amount of e-waste would be ensured through this new season.” Around one thousand people, including sales representatives and students who are Walton Computer’s campus ambassadors in different universities of the country, attended the function virtually. Under the ‘Exclusive Offer’, Customers will also get up to 50 percent discounts on IT products purchased from the Walton’s online sales platform e-Plaza.

Ten directors of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) have collectively resigned, intensifying the ongoing unrest within the organisation. The resignations, which occurred at midnight on Sunday, follow a series of protests and growing dissatisfaction among businessmen. CCCI President Omar Hazzaz confirmed the resignations and stated that the current board had decided to step down to prevent further disruption to services for ordinary members. He assured that the resignation letters are being submitted to the Trade Organizations Division of the Ministry of Commerce, with the entire process expected to be completed by Monday. The decision to resign comes in the wake of the power shift in the country on August 5, which has sparked widespread discontent among the business community. The businessmen have accused the Chamber of establishing a 'family rule' and have been actively protesting and demonstrating against it. This mass resignation is a continuation of earlier moves by the Chamber’s leadership. On August 28, Senior Vice President Torofdar Ruhul Amin and Director Zahirul Islam Chowdhury had already stepped down. The resignation of these 10 directors follows just four days after their departure, highlighting the deepening crisis within the CCCI. The last election held at the CCCI was on March 30, 2013, with the Mahbubul Alam-Nurun Nawaz Selim panel, supported by MA Latif, securing 20 out of 24 positions. Mahbubul Alam was elected president due to this majority. Since then, the Chamber has faced five consecutive terms without proper elections, with the most recent election in August being uncontested. The lack of democratic processes has led to considerable frustration among the business community. The directors’ resignations are seen as a move to address these concerns and pave the way for a more democratic electoral process. With the resignations, there is now an opportunity for a fair voting process to be implemented, as demanded by the businessmen.

Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday said that the condition of Tk5, Tk10, and Tk20 notes in the market is very dirty and they will need to be changed soon. He said this to the reporters after a meeting with the officials of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) at the Secretariat on Monday. He also said that the budget may be reviewed in the current or next month. The finance adviser said, "We have closed the opportunity to turn black money into white." The budget may be revised or reconsidered in the current or next month. Decisions will be made at the highest level of the government regarding the mega projects in the budget, he pointed out.

The Bangladesh Bank has reconstituted the board of directors of S Alam Group's Fast Security Islami Bank and appointed Abdul Mannan, former managing director of Islami Bank, as chairman.  The central bank sent a letter in this regard on Sunday to the managing director of Fast Security Islami Bank for immediate execution. The five-member board also includes BB's former executive director Azizur Rahman, Uttara Bank's former deputy managing director Abdul Quddus, Dhaka University professor Saiful Alam, and chartered accountant Ragib Ahsan.    

Bangladesh received over US $2.2 billion as remittance in August 2024, showing a 39 percent increase year-on-year. According to Bangladesh Bank data, expatriates sent $1.6 billion as remittance in August 2023. Compared to July 2024, remittance inflow in August surged 16 percent. In July, Bangladesh received $1.91 billion as remittances. Bangladesh witnessed the lowest expatriate income in the last 10 months in July 2024 amid the student movement. In July, the country's expatriate income was about $1.91 billion. Before this, the previous expatriate income came in September last year at a minimum of $1.33 billion. However, the bank was closed from July 19 to July 23 due to the situation caused by the students’ movement against discrimination, including public and general holidays. Apart from this, broadband internet was off for 5 consecutive days and mobile internet was off for 10 days. Because of this, foreign transactions with the country's banks are almost stopped. The BB has taken different steps to increase expatriate income including expatriate income to overcome the foreign exchange crisis and increase reserves. In the last few months, these measures have had a positive impact on expatriate income or remittance coming into the country. But in July, there is a slight decline in that trend.    

Bangladesh Bank is gradually increasing cash withdrawal limits to restore normalcy in the banking sector. This move aims to strike a balance between public demand and financial stability, particularly in a climate of ongoing security concerns. In the latest update, Bangladesh Bank raised the cash withdrawal limit to Tk 5 lakh per account this week, up from Tk 4 lakh the previous week. This progressive adjustment follows earlier limits of Tk 3 lakh, Tk 2 lakh, and Tk 1 lakh in the preceding weeks, indicating a structured approach to increasing access to cash. The adjustments began as the interim government took charge on August 8. Despite these changes, concerns remain about the secure transportation of cash and the risk of individuals potentially destabilizing the banking sector by withdrawing large sums. To mitigate these risks, Bangladesh Bank continues to impose and gradually adjust withdrawal limits.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has imposed a ban on transactions with nine private banks, including six affiliated with Chattogram-based business group S Alam Group, prohibiting them from accepting pay orders, cheques and bank guarantees. The shipping agents have not been accepting pay orders from these nine private banks, including the six owned by S Alam Group for last 15 days. The CPA has now officially extended this ban including a prohibition on using cheques or bank guarantees for port services and related activities. On Thursday, an office order, signed by the port's Chief Financial and Accounting Officer Mohammad Abdus Shakur, was sent to all departments of the organization. Following the directive, the banks involved with port-related transactions or tenders will no longer be able to provide pay orders or cheques. The banks are Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Social Islami Bank, Padma Bank, National Bank, and ICB Islami Bank. The first six are part of the S Alam Group. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina-led government recently, the Bangladesh Bank is reforming the boards of these banks. It was learned that the banks have been experiencing severe deficits in their current accounts and liquidity shortages. Previously, the central bank provided cash support to address liquidity issues, but due to ongoing deficits, this support has been withdrawn. As a precautionary measure, the CPA has directed all departments to avoid accepting pay orders and cheques from these banks to prevent any operational disruptions. CPA Secretary Md. Omar Faruk said in general pay orders are required as a guarantee during the tender submission process and bank guarantees are used for contracting with construction firms. This precautionary measure has been implemented to ensure that the port does not face any issues with the redemption of these financial instruments, he added.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) added Tk 6,749 crore to its market capitalization last week, even as the prices of many shares and units declined. According to the latest financial data, DSE’s market capital stood at Tk 6,92,831 crore at the start of trading on Sunday, the first working day of the week. By the close of the final trading session, market capital had increased to Tk 6,99,581 crore, marking a Tk 6,749 crore rise over the week. Bangladesh Bank deposits record Tk 15,100 crore to treasury from FY 2023-24 net profit Despite the overall drop in share prices, the DSE's main index, DSEX, gained 104 points, closing the week at 5,804 points. Additionally, the DSE Shariah index increased by 22 points to 1,241, and the DSE-30 index rose by 34 points to 2,124. A total of 397 firms participated in share and unit trading throughout the week. Of these, 293 saw their share and unit prices rise, 86 experienced declines, and 18 remained unchanged.

Petrobangla is going to extend the submission date of the international offshore block bidding round by three months to get a better response. "We have moved to extend the bid submission time by 3 more months", Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker said last week. He also informed reporters that so far, 7 international companies purchased the bid documents showing keen interest to invest in oil and gas exploration in the country's maritime area in the Bay of Bengal. Sources said the multinational oil and gas companies, which purchased the bids, include US companies ExxonMobil and Chevron, Malaysia's Petronas, Norway and France's joint venture TGS and Schlumberger, Japan's Inpex Corporation and Jogmac, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Italy's Eni SPA, Singapore's Chris Energy and India's ONGC. Petrobangla, the oil, gas and mineral corporation, floated the offshore bidding on March 10 this year and set a September 9 deadline for submission of bids by the interested companies. Officials said now the bid submission date will be set anytime in December.  The tender, named “Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Under Bangladesh Offshore Bidding Round 2024”, was published in local newspapers and websites of concerned government entities including Bangladeshi missions abroad. As per the floated tender, a total of 24 offshore blocks—of which nine are shallow blocks and 15 deep sea blocks—are available for the bidding round. The nine shallow sea blocks are SS-01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10 and 11, and 15 deep sea blocks are DS-08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. The bidder, singly or in association with other companies, can bid for one or more blocks. Contracts will be signed with the successful bidders in line with the Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract 2023, said the tender. The features of the proposed contract include full repatriation of profit, no signature bonus or royalty, uncapped attractive gas price linked with international marker, oil price to be determined on the basis of the fair market value prevailing in South and Southeast Asia. It entails no duty for equipment and machinery imported for petroleum operations while contractor's corporate income tax liability will be borne by Petrobangla, and bank guarantee for performance of the minimum exploration program. There will be provision for assignment of interest and share-transfer and 100 percent cost recovery with a yearly cap of 75 percent. The contractor must have a mandatory work program consisting of 2D seismic survey and mandatory purchase of available 2D multi-client seismic data against bidded blocks to get relief from mandatory work obligations proportionately. They will have minimum work obligation in each of the exploration periods while biddable work program commitment over and above the mandatory program. There will be petroleum profit sharing on the basis of R-factor with biddable upper and lower limits and option to sell contractor's share of natural gas in the domestic market to a third party, at a negotiated price, subject to Petrobangla's right of first refusal. The bidder must ensure a carried stake of 10 percent for state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) for both shallow and deep sea blocks. The bidders’ qualification criteria include — individual or in case of joint venture at least one member — offshore daily production of at least 15,000 barrels of oil or 150 mmsc of gas. Bidders must have at least one global experience (other than home country) in the oil and gas exploration and production. The Information Package will be available at a cost of US$ 300 or equivalent Bangladeshi taka to the interested bidders/companies. To enable companies to assess the geological prospects of the blocks on offer, promotional and data Packages are available on payment basis. Promotional packages contain bidding document, sample seismic sections, gravity, magnetic, geological maps. Companies are required to purchase the promotional package in order to qualify for bidding, said the tender.

Bangladesh Bank achieved a record profit in the fiscal year 2023-24, fueled by significant US dollar sales from reserves and a sharp rise in short-term lending to commercial banks. The central bank’s final balance sheet for the year reveals a total profit of Tk 40,000 crore, with a net or actual profit of Tk 15,100 crore. This marks a substantial increase from the previous fiscal year, when net profits stood at Tk 10,748 crore. Of this, Tk 10,652 crore was transferred to the government treasury. The surge in profits is largely attributed to Bangladesh Bank’s income from short-term loans provided to various banks, particularly through repos and special repos. Upward trend in remittance: Bangladesh receives over $2 billion in Aug Additionally, the bank capitalized on the sale of US dollars from its foreign exchange reserves, a move that bolstered its earnings. The financial statement was approved during a meeting of the Bangladesh Bank’s board of directors last Wednesday. At this meeting, it was also decided that central bank officials would receive a bonus equivalent to five and a half months' basic salary. In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh Bank extended a total of Tk 32.21 lakh crore in loans to commercial banks, surpassing the cumulative amount lent over the previous seven years. Moreover, the bank sold US $12.79 billion from its foreign exchange reserves to local banks throughout the fiscal year. Bangladesh Bank raises agricultural credit target to Tk 38000 cr Following all expenditures, Tk 15,100 crore from the net income was deposited into the government treasury, reflecting the central bank’s robust financial performance.